Derrick Rose went through a full practice with the Knicks on Sunday, and Jeff Hornacek said his starting point guard is "likely" to be back on the floor Monday night against the Lakers.
Rose has missed four consecutive games because of a sprained ankle. The Knicks are 1-3 during his absence, with the win coming over the Nets, who have the worst record in the league.
"He looked pretty good in practice, so we're hoping that he'll play," Hornacek said in a conference call. "We did a little halfcourt scrimmaging in practice, where you have to go side to side and slide his feet. He looked pretty good there and didn't wince or make faces. I think he feels pretty comfortable with that. He actually did some other things after practice to get more conditioning and push himself harder."
Not all the injury news was good. Joakim Noah, the other big name brought in to help the Knicks this season, has been ruled out of the Lakers game because of a problem with his left hamstring. Noah, who injured it during Saturday's loss to the Cavaliers, will be back Wednesday at the earliest.
An injury to his other hamstring forced Noah to sit out a good portion of training camp and the preseason, contributing to his poor start. Lately, he appeared to be trending upward after scoring 4.7 points with 9.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game in January.
"I think the one in training camp was worse than this one," Hornacek said, "but hamstrings are always a little tricky. They feel better, but then you can take that hard one step and re-aggravate it."
With Noah out, look for Willy Hernangomez and Kyle O'Quinn to see a bump in playing time. It's also possible that Kristaps Porzingis could spend some time in the middle.
Hornacek said he likes the way Hernangomez has been playing with backup point guard Brandon Jennings, so he may start O'Quinn at center against the Lakers.
